Saturday, December 24, 2011

This year's Christmas activities are taking place in prison. No, not really.

I am in Leavenworth, Washington. A gorgeous place. http://www.leavenworth.org/modules/pages/?pageid=190&path=32|190#id=webcams&num=6 My sister's husband is from here. We are about 20 miles from Wenatchee. The town of Leavenworth has at least 12 million Christmas lights hung in the center of town. There is a little snow and ice. Last night we watched kids sliding down a hill in the center of town. It was fun watching them. They looked like park rats.

So about ten of us are invading.

We are staying in a beautiful home over looking the Wenatchee River. This is my brother in laws'-father's home. I am writing to you from my couch, inside the deck, overlooking the river.

I am the only one up. This may have something to do with the 9 gallons of beer and wine that was consumed last night. I do not miss those mornings. I do miss those evenings a little bit.

I managed to cling to my meat diet. Barely. There is candy, fudge, and chocolates everywhere.

Today is Christmas Eve. We have two family traditions. We all go shopping together and buy worthless shit for each other. Like Elmer Fudd hats. I found one called the "leather hog" last night. It will look good on my Road King. The other tradition we indulge in... is the eating of the oyster stew. Gawd, how I love this. Not the stew. The stew is horrible. My sister absolutely refuses to eat it. Every year I get to listen to her concoct some bullshit excuse about why she can't eat it. This year will be the same. Hearing her whine has become the tradition now.

Maybe something really funny will happen today and if so, I'll chime in. If not I hope every one of you has a wonderful Christmas.

Mitt Romney- Mormon hustler with questionable business practices. He and his staff stole every hard drive from their offices before vacating the Governor's gig. (He's the cinch guy. They'll go easy on him.)

Newt Gingrich- Serial cheater and asshole.

Ron Paul- Racist newsletter writer. They had to dig that shit up from over 20 years ago- when All In The Family re-runs were still on.

Sarah Palin- Dumb ass. Part time governor of Russia.

Do you know why the media hasn't attacked anyone else? Because everyone else is largely irrelevant and not worth wasting the time on. Had these media assholes done 1/2 the hatchet job on Obama that they've done on every GOP candidate, I'd think they were credible. As it stands, I still think they are absolute cowards and corporate lap dogs. Irresponsible pussies. Because of them, we have this golfing idiot, I mean 4th best President ever.

Where is Jesus Christ when you need him? I can't imagine what the media ShihTzus would do to him.

-It's a curious thing in a material sense. The people who die fighting don't have much to lose. The people with everything to lose- don't die fighting. The trick is getting someone else to do your fighting for you. The haves are careful to call the have nots... patriots.

Time and time again, I see people confused by the subtle differences of nationalism and patriotism. The terms are not interchangeable and do indeed- define two different belief systems. Belief systems are opinions. It is important to make that distinction. Nationalism tends to be blind loyalty to the state or political entity. Patriotism tends to be loyalty to a country, culture, or concept such as freedom. It does not require blind loyalty to a political body or entity.

The "Patriot Act" should have been titled the "Nationalist Act." That type of accuracy might have raised some eyebrows. The definitions are blurry and confusing because the state likes it that way.

Those subtle differences are not even born out with precision by commonly referred to references. Here's wiki on nationalism: It can also include the belief that the state is of primary importance, or the belief that one state is naturally superior to all other states.[3][4] It is also used to describe a movement to establish or protect a 'homeland' (usually an autonomous state) for an ethnic group.

Pretty close. Now here's patriotism: Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy. In a generalized sense applicable to all countries and peoples, patriotism is a devotion to one's country.

Wiki says that the term nationalism is related to patriotism. Really?

This is not a case of splitting hairs. In fact, these two terms are the basis for many disagreements and one of the reasons our entire culture is fractured and cannot agree on anything political.

Patriots are devoted to their culture, country, or people- perhaps to a concept such as freedom. You will not find blind devotion to the political state within the definition of a patriot. That is not what a patriot is devoted to.

Nationalism is blind devotion to the state. I cannot think of a better example than Hitler's Germany. Or unfortunately, the U.S. depriving American citizens of Japanese descent their freedom, lives, and property in relocation camps. Adamantly justifying it. Don't go waving your patriot flag at me while defending that. That's nationalism.

The lines get blurred because the political state wants them blurred. Devoted nationalists are called patriots by the political state. They want to confuse you. They want good followers. What they don't want is patriots. People who question the powerful over reach of the state. Patriots are not concerned with blind loyalty to the political state. In all cases, patriots spell death to oppressive regimes and to the political state.

I posed this question to a fellow blogger. Why are we surprised that our political state has drafted legislation to detain and imprison it's own citizens without due process? Our oppressive political state kidnapped hundreds of suspected terrorists from all over the world. Of course the vast majority are guilty, evil men. But what about the few who aren't? Are the few innocent ones simply acceptable collateral damage? The ones fingered by a desperate snitch? How do we sort them out without due process? Without due process, the innocent are denied freedom. Isn't that one of the reasons we killed the King's men? Aren't we the big flag waving patriots that say all men are created equal?

There in lies the rub. You can't have it both ways. Either you are for limiting the power of the state by refusing to engage in criminal acts of kidnapping and cloaking your activities in a shroud of nationalism or wars on terror or you are not. If you are going to tolerate the act of kidnapping by the state abroad then you must tolerate domestic acts of kidnapping, denial of due process, and forfeiture of civil rights right here. You are a nationalist, but you are no patriot. You can't have it both ways.

How would a patriot react? Patriots question the illegal conduct of government- even in the face of a majority of nationalists or popular opinion. They are devoted to their culture and country. Devoted to people confused and misguided by the state. Patriots have great courage because oftentimes- they can be an isolated minority. Nationalists are whispered a lie by the political state. You are a good little patriot.

Here is something written by patriots. Perhaps you will recognize it.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

You aren't a patriot simply because a political entity says you are. In fact, you are probably a patriot when the state says that you are not a patriot. “The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

In the new world order, blind loyalty to the ever expanding and oppressive state is good. They call those loyalists- patriots- and they do so for a reason. They blur the lines on purpose. They expand their power and they get you to fight their battles for them. "Patriot." Now you know why.

The great thing about having your own blog is that you can write about any damn thing you want. So today I thought I'd take a rain check on government hating. Deviate into masochistic dieting with a little history. My diet history began after the summer of '07 and a U.S. tour via motorcycle. I ate and drank very well on that trip. You can hide a little extra weight at 6'4" or so. But there are limitations. Sooner or later things get a little squishy.

In early November that year, I jumped into my Jeep and headed back to New Orleans for the winter. All 300 pounds of me. I was about to launch a weight loss mission. By Christmas of that year, I weighed 218 pounds. I had lost 82 pounds in something like 55 days. From size 40 to 34. I could even fit into a 32 waist without too much struggle.

I have told that story a few times. Very often people think I am full of shit or at least exaggerating and they have told me that. Losing weight in dramatic fashion is not easy, but it can be done. It just takes tremendous discipline for a predetermined length of time. In just a paragraph or two, I will tell you how I do it.

In July of this year, my girlfriend and I parted company. I wouldn't have declared either one of us fat but that is probably too forgiving. Both of us were about 40 pounds overweight. Now I haven't seen her in quite awhile. Last week, I saw her for the first time since we broke up. We are on good terms. She looked fantastic. She had lost all 40 of those pounds. Nothing really says "fuck you" like losing weight where ex boyfriends are concerned and getting new boyfriends becomes a priority.

In her defense, she wasn't outwardly smug... but you can bet your ass she was enjoying that. I have to credit that gal. She motivates me. Not only did I quit smoking because of her, (she still does) but I'll be damned if I am gonna let her ice cream eating ass show me up.

Let me introduce you to the Frankenstein "all you can eat meat" weight loss program. This diet makes Atkins look healthy. It is Atkins on steroids. I limit the duration. I am going to lose 50 pounds in 40 days. This is how I will do it.

I determine how much I am going to lose. I set the time frame. Since I know it's not going to be forever or eternal, it is easier to stay focused. My end date is Jan. 25. I have found that I have to do this every two years. That's been my experience.

You cannot drink alcohol. No milk, no fruit juice. You cannot drink coffee to excess. Maybe two cups or 16 oz. per day.

I allow myself 35-50 carbs per day. That's it. A nutritional shake in the morning or yogurt with a few strawberries in it and every other day, 12 oz. of V-8 vegetable juice. That's pretty much the entire carb intake. I laughingly refer to this diet as the "meat diet." In reality, I probably eat 3 to 4 times more meat by weight and volume than I do vegetables.

I eat every kind of meat known to man. All day long, in enormous quantities. Whole chickens, spiral ham, half a turkey. Brats and sauerkraut. Two pounds of sirloin. Lots of fish, herring, salmon, tuna. I eat gobs of low carb vegetables, salads. My favorite is asparagus, brussel sprouts, cauliflower. Huge amounts of eggs. I have virtually every kind of cheese sold in the store. That's it. Nothing else. Maybe some peanuts. And I drink tons of water. At least a gallon a day. For a snack, I sliced and ate an entire cucumber today.

Ok that's the easy part.

Now after consuming those 50 carbs or so in the morning, I head straight for the gym. I run 3.2 miles. At night I ride my airdyne for 30 minutes or walk an additional two miles. You must do this every day. The hard part is your energy level. With no carbs or easy energy, your body is forced to use stored fat and it will eat a little lean muscle too. They call it ketosis. You will be sluggish and tired and I take naps. That's just tough shitski. The problem I encounter is that I lack energy once I have used up those easy carbs in the morning. Energy at night is hard to find. I eat a few broccoli carbs toward the evening.

I use a simple trick. I do this one day at a time. I do not let my mind wander and sabotage my mission by looking ahead. I am focused on today. I know what I am going to eat. I am five days in, I have lost 11 pounds on the gym scale- just to to make sure that the meat diet is still working.

In a day or two I will be traveling for Christmas. Eating on the road is nearly impossible when you are on a mission such as this. I will take my food with me. I am not kidding. If I absorb any extra carbs- they will have to slip them in the air that I breathe. I am determined not to let some Ben and Jerry's eating, California beach bum, show me up.

Anyway, try not to get a blood test done while you are doing this. Or at least avoid looking at the triglycerides and cholesterol levels. Your doctor may have a shit hemorrhage. Mostly, I've found that doctors don't understand. This is a helluva lot easier and cheaper than a gastric bypass and you aren't gonna convince me that cutting all that tissue is healthier, either. So that's the deal. A lot of animals are going to give up their lives this month so that I can look and feel like an Ethiopian again. Forty days, 50 pounds, or die.

Just after Halloween this year, I went shopping at Home Despot. Home Despot and I are well acquainted. While doing my eternal home remodel this spring and summer, employees greeted me each and every day. For weeks. They called me by my first name. Some called me other things.

So it was in early November- that I did the unthinkable. I was exiting the lawn and garden area and heading to the cashier. A cashier at Home Despot is required to stand in front of their till if they are not doing anything. This is how corporate America gets it's money worth. At any rate, there is this cute gal standing in front of her till like a good soldier. I know if her line is empty that there cannot possibly be one straight man left in the joint. I hit the rocket boosters just a touch... and out of my peripheral vision I spotted the snow shovels. Shit.

Last year, we had this wintery surprise attack in Boise. A storm dumped 6 to 7 inches of wet and nasty snow. I do not particularly care about these things, having come from the land of 3 foot dumps, except that my mother is creeping up in years. Her driveway is not immune from these attacks and I have evolved out of complete self centered-ness to a point where I only think about myself 97 to 98% of the time. I have devoted 2-3% of my time to thinking about things other than myself. Or thinking about things like my mother's snow shovel and her driveway.

Last year, immediately after the big snowstorm, I decided to shovel my mother's driveway. This as it turns out, was a singular event. I arrived at her house to find absolutely nothing capable of moving back breaking, wet snow. There was a thing that looked like a hoe. The cheapest shovel one could imagine. Flat blade and dish, rusted edges all knurled up like elves shoes. Geezus I think, it would be easier to just kick the snow off of the driveway. Did she actually use this thing? Not a chance. That relic had undoubtedly been left in the garage by my long since departed brother. Precisely where he left it, 20 years ago. So it was that day, I needed something usable.

I got in my truck. I went to Home Despot. Out of shovels. I then went to Fred Meyer. Out of shovels. A trip to the hardware store. Out of shovels. While scouring the neighborhood, I did what all desperate men do. I decided to steal the first shovel I saw. I stole my lazy landlord's. Gawd knows, he probably forgot he had one.

The memory of that day and two hours of back breaking shoveling caused me to stop dead in my tracks. I whirled around and bought the most expensive snow shovel in the store. That is not like me. This baby is made of titanium and a metal discovered at an alien spaceship crash near Roswell, New Mexico. Secretly, I want to use it. That is also not like me. Trust me. I view laziness as a virtue.

So I bought this shovel well in advance of any storms. Unthinkable type of planning for a guy like me. And just as sure as I did, winter has been canceled in Boise. Day after day, it has been sunny and warm. Day after day. Cops riding motorcycles. Morons riding motorcycles. Women in grass skirts. The extended forecast? More of the same.

I'll tell you what I am willing to do. If any one of the six people who read this blog need help canceling winter where you live, just let me know. I will be more than happy to come to your house, eat your food and drink your beer while we sit these winter months out. I'll bring my shovel. It's magic.

Lets face it, the GOP sucks. Their list of buffoons and old dead money players- shrinks weekly. I am now waiting for Sophomore Governor and quitter Sarah Palin to come riding in and try to save the day.

And as bad as the GOP sucks, we all know that the central planners suck even worse. What a nightmare. Just when you think it can't get worse- it does.

Ron Paul who is shredding GOP plans in Iowa and New Hampshire- has to go and try to defend Bradley Manning. Manning of course, has already been proven guilty by the press. Thus the marginalized GOP, already on life support (Ace of Spades) is just waiting to pounce all over something like this. And they did. Sometimes Dr. Paul, can you just stop and think before you open your mouth? The smear starts at the second word in the body of this piece.

For a couple of years, I have been listening to slanderous claims of racial bigotry and other various accusations lodged against Ron Paul. I never could source them and I could not research or evaluate the claims. I even read some Jewish blogger's hate filled rant about how Ron Paul hates Jews because he wants the Israelis to start paying their own costs of war without American aid- thus by connotation and assumption- the conclusion is in. Paul is an anti Semite.

Surely there is no other explanation, no plausible deny-ability. In the new America, we condemn and judge without due process. You do know that FEMA is building camps, don't you?

So what I am about to say- most of you know. I am a Ron Paul supporter. What I am not, is some media lap dog who in my fervent desire to get a black man elected President- covers up all that is potentially bad about the man. I do not practice contempt prior to investigation. Hell, I even read the Huffington Post for intelligence gathering purposes. I am a retired investigator. I was paid to listen to both sides. The costs of hastily drawn conclusions meant lawsuits and career jeopardy. So you didn't make those mistakes. In some cases, the work actually cleared the accused. And yes, human beings make mistakes. I am a member of that group. I didn't always get it right but I didn't quit until I was satisfied and exhausted- confident that I had given the matter I was investigating- my very best.

So last night, I was reading a Doug Ross anti-Ron Paul piece here: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/12/ron-pauls-greatest-hits.html I like Doug Ross. The rant did not cite sources- however the comment section did. I left my usual request for sources and just as I was leaving the comment section I noticed a link that an anti-Ron commenter had left. I cut and pasted it. That link led me to a young writer named James Kirchick. Kirchick is a writer, reporter, correspondent. There is a plethora of information available on him. I have read a lot about Kirchick and his work tonight. He is a pretty good writer and unlike the media who failed to expose President Obama's secret past- Kirchick actually did some work and investigative reporting. So did I. Four or five hours worth. Not exhaustive- but not bad. Enough that I got Kirchick's message. Here was my first evidence of Ron Paul's bigoted past. Finally a source. Here is the piece that launched Mr. Kirchick into prominence. It is titled, "Angry White Man, The Bigoted Past of Ron Paul." There is a picture of Paul wearing a Confederate Calvary hat complete with a sinister smile on the cover of this piece. http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/angry-white-man

I should tell you that I found the title which alleges bigotry, bigoted. Had it simply said, "Angry Man, The Bigoted Past of Ron Paul." I would have given the article more credibility. And ditto, sans the Confederate hat smear. That was un-necessary. But I suppose young writers on a mission to make themselves prominent are entitled to a mistake or two. Even if they are a little bigoted toward angry white men. I am an angry white man. I will tell you this. I am getting sick and tired of being blamed for every societal ill. Emasculated by society and women. I have had enough bigotry directed at me. In fact, I may even become a very pissed off and gelded, white man.

Google Kirchick and Paul and you will find gobs of stuff. Fights on panels, wiki, I've read a lot tonight. I am a due diligence sort of fella.

Evaluation and Summary

James Kirchick is young and possibly gay. These things do not matter. Attacking people personally is chicken shit and bigoted. There is a very important distinction I would like to make here. This is absolutely lost on my liberal friends. It is ok to attack the opinions or shaky facts of any data set or allegation. We can do that in a civilized way without attacking the person who holds those beliefs. Just because I disagree with the way Kirchick gathers and presents information does not mean I dislike Kirchick. This is a function of maturity. Kirchick is a good writer. He is not required to like Paul. And unlike most anonymous media drones- he appears to have actually gotten the best evidence. Newsletters dug out of two places. Would I have liked to see them? Of course. But I am going to have to take Kirchick's word for it- that the newsletters do exist. But be very careful drawing conclusions when in fact you have not read the newsletters in question nor has Paul ever claimed that he wrote them. This does not relieve Paul of responsibility. Could somebody else have written nasty racial and bigoted things back when society was much more accepting of racially bigoted things? Of course. In fact, I have even seen shows and read published and syndicated writing wherein the term "nigger" was used. What our society tolerates is ever evolving. What was accepted practice and tolerated when I was a young man certainly pre dates the arrival of Mr. Kirchick on this rock. Do I think Kirchick may have "cherry picked" the most atrocious things in his zeal to smear an angry white man? Of course. Does he make any attempt to be fair to Ron Paul? Good question...the answer is...

Not really or at the very least- I don't think unbiased reporting was or is the goal of James Kirchick when writing about Ron Paul. That is my opinion gleaned from four hours worth of reading. Does it matter to me what Kirchick's motive is? Not really. I am simply trying to verify if his writing is accurate. Could Ron Paul be given the benefit of the doubt? Sure. Could Paul even have said racially bigoted things? Of course. Those things were acceptable in places and tolerated to some degree in the 70's, 80's, or 90's. James Kirchick was born in 1983. I was 23 in 1983. Ron Paul was nearly 50. The term "nigger" was on it's way out. Kirchick was born at a time when our country was evolving out of "All in the Family" and our favorite bigot, Archie Bunker. That was syndicated television. Listen to a view episodes of that... Mr. Kirchick. That was the flavor of our culture prior to your birth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_in_the_Family

Is Ron Paul an anti-Semite? No I don't see any definitive proof of that. Ron Paul is simply tired of wasting billions we don't have fighting other peoples' wars. We are broke.

Has Ron Paul broken any laws? No. Has Ron Paul been guilty of moral and ethical failures? Possibly. Contextually viewed in a different time and place, those failures may have been somewhat tolerated at the time they were delivered. They may not have been uttered or written by Paul and indeed he has said they were not. Paul has apologized for them. Could he be fibbing? Maybe. That begs the question. Do we give people the benefit of the doubt? Do we give them second chances? And why is it that writers like Kirchick leave out every good thing that a man has done?

Because being fair is not really the point. In the case of Kirchick, I see very little evidence that being fair was one of the utmost goals of his writing. At least in terms of Ron Paul. You see, guys like Kirchick want you to tolerate and accommodate their lifestyle but they do not want to accommodate yours. They see nothing wrong with the way they view the world, it is your way of viewing the world that they condemn. They lack the historical perspective of a culture that buried kids, quit smoking enmasse, and said we are going to tolerate homosexuality. All of that in my short life time. That ain't bad Mr. Kirchick. I wish that you could have seen all that. That's the way the culture ebbs and flows.

Monday, December 19, 2011

If Ron Paul had just gone away like he was supposed to- the big media outlets could have said, "see we told you so."

Just when the media thought they were in control of elections and exposure up jumps a bunch of angry voters who maintain that voters- not the media- still elect Presidents. Even ignored Presidential candidates.

I am beginning to think that the blogosphere, the last bastion of truly free speech, may become a force to be reckoned with. I sure hope so.

People are very angry. They have been- for about three years. Bankers have absolutely plundered us- five trillion in the last three years alone. People are now figuring out that electing a guy who hates the FED might just be what the doctor ordered. Pun intended.

Many years ago, I think we blew an excellent chance to stop the 20 million jobs that left our shores. We had a chance to elect Ross Perot. Not your typical politician. He was simply too direct for people. He didn't talk shit.

I say the same thing about Ron Paul. He is the right guy at the right time. This time the problem is the FED and that enormous debt load. Paul doesn't talk a lot of political bullshit. He is direct. Most importantly, and a point nobody will argue, he does what he says he will do.

So I was hardly shocked to see the Des Moines Register endorse the white Obama, Romney. He is this year's beauty contest winner. He is rich and elite, he talks shit, and he has no verifiable or successful history as a public servant. Unless you count the bankrupt, taxpayer subsidized, Massachusetts version of Obamacare.

Hank Paulson is never far from my thoughts. With a net worth of 700 million, he is the embodiment of American elitism. Arrogant and self absorbed, smug, and greedy.

Hank Paulson may have pulled off the greatest crime in U.S. history. Working with a complicit and paid for Congress in 2008, Hank was able to secure all but a blank check to bail out U.S. banks. Banks that had made horrible and fraudulent loans, repackaged them, and sold them under fraudulent pretenses as "AAA".

Hank Paulson was the CEO of Goldman Sachs when all of that near sighted crookedness and fraudulent loan originating was taking place. In fact, nobody had a better view of the landscape than Hank did. He knew what the bankers had done. As Treasury Secretary, Hank made the big banks whole via TARP and preserved them while cutting the economic throat of this country.

This weekend I was reading about the collapse of the Eurozone, Japan, and the United States. Now the FED is going to bail out Europe. This alleged Federal Reserve of ours. Why not? We are already 15.1 trillion in the hole, why not hand Europe an extra trillion? This is an excellent read. Hit the "full screen" button at the bottom left of the box to read the embedded piece.

After I finished reading this essay- I couldn't help but think about Hank Paulson. He and his crony bankers, desperately trying to preserve their way of life. A never ending bailout program that can only end in complete collapse. Hank escaped the U.S.S. Economic Collapse with his personal fortune of 700 million. Good for him. Perhaps he can buy a conscience.

Hank would probably refer to himself as personally "successful." In terms of civil service, he was an abysmal failure. In terms of ego and greed- he has been an outstanding success. Given another time and place, Hank would most likely be in prison. That's the weird part. It's not odd that we have people like Paulson- the world has been churning them out for centuries. What is strange is that nobody seems to care about them right now. I have a feeling that is about to change.